ONE NIGHT IN CHICAGO
by Rebel8954
Summary: "What's wrong?" When Seth didn't answer, he sat cross-legged on the floor at Seth's feet. "Did you kill somebody?" Seth's head shot up. "What? NO! What the hell kind of question is that?" Dean shrugged. "If you didn't kill somebody, then whatever it is can be fixed."


**ONE NIGHT IN CHICAGO**

It was hard to ignore someone as big as Roman Reigns. Especially when you're trapped in a speeding vehicle going down the Interstate at 70mph. But Seth Rollins was trying very hard to do just that.

And Roman was trying very hard to ignore Seth.

The problem was neither of them were doing a very good job at ignoring the other.

It wasn't until Roman took their exit off the Interstate that he finally spoke. "How's your shoulder?"

"It's fine," Seth answered in a clipped tone of voice.

Roman ground his back teeth together. "What were you thinking?" he demanded. He spotted the sign for their motel in the distance and wished he'd started this conversation a lot earlier.

"I don't want to talk about it," Seth snapped.

"Well, you gonna have to talk about it," Roman snapped back. "If not here and now with me, then later with **him**."

Seth closed his eyes. "Can I not have a few minutes of peace and quiet?"

"You've had peace and quiet all the way from Chicago," Roman acidly pointed out as he drove onto the motel's parking lot. He slowly drove around the one-floor building to the darkened back parking area.

"Looks like the inspiration for the _Bates Motel_ ," Seth grunted.

"Tell **him** that," Roman grunted in return. "Renee and some of the ladies are taking Charly out to celebrate. So, **he** picked the motel."

Seth closed his eyes and sighed as Roman parked the SUV. "I'm sorry, okay?"

Roman turned the engine off. "I know you're sorry," he replied. He deliberately pitched his voice to be low yet firm. "And you know that's not enough. Not anymore." He opened his door and got out of the SUV, slamming the door shut behind him.

Seth didn't know whether to scream or cry. So, he settled for getting out of the vehicle, slamming his door, and stomping to the back of the SUV for his luggage. Sulking, he followed Roman across the parking area to a door at the end of the row of units.

Roman lightly tapped on the door which was opened a few seconds later.

"Took you guys long…"

Seth pushed his way into the room, dragging his luggage behind him. As he set the suitcase against one wall, Roman silently followed him into the room, allowing the door to be shut behind him.

Dean Ambrose curiously looked at Roman who was carefully setting his own suitcase against the opposite wall. The two men exchanged a look that Dean easily interpreted.

 _Seth screwed up. He won't talk to me. I'm gonna wring his neck._

Dean watched Seth sit on the foot of one bed and lower his head into his hands. He nodded to Roman who began pulling things out of his suitcase.

"I'm hitting the shower," Roman briefly said. He'd showered in Chicago, but it was the only way he could give Dean some privacy to talk with Seth.

"Cool," Dean answered. He waited until the bathroom door was shut and the shower turned on before walking to the bed and kneeling in front of Seth. "What's wrong?" When Seth didn't answer, he sat cross-legged on the floor at Seth's feet. "Did you kill somebody?"

Seth's head shot up. "What? **NO!** What the hell kind of question is **that**?"

Dean shrugged. "If you didn't kill somebody, then whatever it is can be fixed."

Seth ran both hands through his head. "I fucked up," he nearly whispered. "I got too far inside my head and **really** fucked up."

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

 **THREE HOURS EARLIER**

Seth leaned against the wall, staring at his phone. Roman was taking a quick shower, having first talked with his wife about the show. Seth knew Roman probably hadn't seen the mini-interview Dean had given as he'd walked away from the arena.

Dean walking away was part of the plan. They knew someone would try to get an explanation from him. They'd agreed on the point that needed to be made, but left it up to Dean to phrase it how he pleased. Dean was one of the best at making it up on the fly so not even Seth or Roman knew what he was going to say. Seth wasn't sure if Dean knew what he was going to say.

' _I don't get it. I_ _ **don't**_ _get it. Maybe…I just don't fit anywhere anymore.'_

It wasn't so much the words as the expression on Dean's face or the look in his eyes. Especially the eyes. Nobody but Seth or Roman would recognize the glint momentarily flickering in Dean's blue eyes.

"Quite an exit Ambrose made, huh?"

Seth sighed and pocketed his phone. "Go away, Ziggler."

Dolph Ziggler grinned and stepped closer. "Oh, come on, Seth. That little interview and then walking away into the darkness was the **perfect** exit." He chuckled and snapped his gum. "Not just for that interview, but also from The Shield."

Seth acknowledged that the reason he and Dolph didn't get along was that they were a lot alike. They were both extremely gifted athletically and highly talented on the mic. They carried a butt-load of confidence in themselves and an arrogance towards those they knew weren't as good as themselves.

"I'm going to say this one time, Ziggler. Don't stick your nose into The Shield's business," Seth warned.

"You know, I did my own 'happy dance' when you busted up The Shield," Dolph laughed. "For over a year, that's all people wanted to talk about. The Shield this. The Shield that." He put his hands on his hips. "Then you had to go and give everybody this whole redemption crap and pull The Shield back together again." He derisively snorted. "You guys claim you're brothers and you don't bend or crack. But it looks like after Ambrose nearly kicked the bucket, he…"

Seth performed a spear on Dolph that would've made Roman both proud and envious. The two men crashed into the wall of the hallway and down to the floor. Seth immediately began slamming his fists first into Dolph's face then then into his ribs when Dolph began protecting his head.

"You bastard! You've no idea what's going on!" Seth screamed. "You've no idea what's coming for you when we…" Seth yelped as he was picked up from Dolph's wiggling body and thrown against the opposite wall.

Sliding down to the floor, Seth groaned and grabbed his left shoulder. _'Damn, that hurts. How did Dean stand…'_ His thought was interrupted when he was pulled up and off his feet and found himself staring into Drew McIntire's furious face. Without a word, Dolph's partner threw him down to the floor and raised his foot to kick Seth in the ribs.

Seth's dark eyes widened as a familiar howl preceded McIntire being on the receiving end of a spear from Roman Reigns. As Seth sat up, he heard people shouting and realized the fight had gotten the attention of those who were still backstage. He jerked as someone helped him to his feet, then realized it was Finn Balor who was supporting him. The Irishman gave him a brief smile and nod.

"Not sure what Ziggler did, but he deserved it," Finn quietly joked.

" **ENOUGH!"**

Kurt Angle helped separate Roman and McIntire then stepped between the two of them. He was just grateful that Braun Strowman had already left the building.

Roman stood as Elias and Bobby Lashley gently backed him away from McIntire who quickly got to his feet and glared past Kurt at Roman.

Dolph got to his feet and started towards Seth when he was stopped by the unlikely duo of Dean Malenko and Ronda Rousey. Dolph wasn't a fool. Rousey was tough and could probably hurt him. But the old man, Malenko…

Malenko took a half-step forward and forced Dolph's eyes to meet his. The Iceman never broke the stare even as Kurt began to speak.

Dolph stared into Malenko's dark eyes and read the promise of **real genuine** **pain** if he took another step forward.

"Now, I don't know what started this," Kurt spoke. "But it stops here and now. You keep this **in the ring**."

"Or what?" McIntire snarled.

Kurt turned to face McIntire who looked at him then at the crowd who had moved up to support Kurt.

Roman Reigns. Seth Rollins. Bobby Lashley. Elias. Finn Balor. Ronda Rousey. Dean Malenko.

Behind them he could see others. Nia Jax. Ember Moon. Bobby Roode. Chad Gable. Akam. Razar. Drake Maverick.

Most of them had no love for the members of The Shield. But they respected the hell out of Kurt Angle.

"Rollins started it," Dolph accused.

"And I'm finishing it," Kurt firmly answered. "Ziggler. McIntire. You got your stuff?" When Dolph nodded, Kurt added, "You guys leave first. Lashley, Roode, Akam, Razar, Maverick…you guys leave with them."

McIntire stared at Kurt for a few seconds as the other men moved forward. "You're not the General Manager right now, Kurt Angle. Do you think you've got the power to do this?"

Kurt half smiled. "What I've got is Vince McMahon's personal phone number on speed dial. Is that power enough for you?"

McIntire snarled as Dolph grunted, "Let's go. But this isn't over."

"Keep it in the ring," Kurt reminded them. He quietly thanked the men who followed Dolph & McIntire out of the building. Then he turned to Seth and Roman. "You two are going to wait for…oh, about thirty minutes before leaving. Understand?"

"Understood," Roman nodded. He took a deep breath. "Thanks, Kurt." He glanced around at the others. "All of you."

The crowd began to disperse with silent nods or quiet murmurs of support. Kurt's blue eyes widened as Malenko and Rousey walked off together, quietly speaking to each other.

"Seth, you should have somebody look at that shoulder," Finn suggested.

"It's okay," Seth automatically answered.

"He's right," Kurt added. "Just to make sure."

Seth started to protest when Roman turned and looked at him. The look in Roman's eyes told Seth that the older man had heard Seth's screaming words and wasn't pleased by them.

"Do it," Roman ordered.

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

 **CURRENT TIME**

"Kurt's still got it," Dean admiringly said.

"What Kurt had was backup who would go to war for him **and** Vince's personal phone number," Seth grunted.

Dean shrugged. "Like I said…Kurt's still got it." He studied Seth for a few moments, idly wondering how long Roman was going let the shower run. "So, was it just Ziggler's general bitchiness that set you off or was it something else?"

"I was watching your exit interview," Seth mumbled. "A couple of times."

Dean scratched his jaw. "I thought it came off pretty good, you know?"

"It did," Seth nodded. "But…like I said I got too much into my head." When Dean remained silent, Seth knew Roman had been right.

A simple 'I'm sorry' wasn't going to be enough. Not now. Neither of his brothers would allow him to get away with it like they did back in the early days of The Shield. Their brotherhood was different now. Before their brotherhood had been one of coming together for a common cause and riding that wave of success together.

Now their brotherhood had been tempered by fire and destruction. The type of fire and destruction that could only have been caused from within. They'd fought and clawed their way out of the rubble of the shattered Shield, each in his own way and time. Then they'd fought their way back together, dealing not only with the mistrust but with the deep desire to **want** to put their brotherhood back together.

Dean's injury and brush with death made them more determined than ever to stand as brothers whether they stood as The Shield or as individuals. No outside force would be allowed to destroy that ever again.

None of **them** would be allowed to destroy it ever again either.

"You wanna tell Roman he can stop hiding in the shower?" Seth asked with a crooked grin.

Dean huffed and raised his voice. "You about done in there, Roman?"

They both chuckled when the shower was immediately turned off. Seconds later, Roman stepped out of the bathroom, clothed for bed.

"About time," he grumbled, sitting on the end of the other bed and waited.

Seth took at deep breath as Dean looked back at him.

"I **am** sorry," Seth slowly began. "Like I told Dean, I got too far inside my head. I probably would've jumped Ziggler anyway. He laughed at our promo but…" He took a deep breath. "He started yapping about Dean nearly dying."

Roman glanced at Dean who seemed unaffected by the statement. "Yeah, I probably would've hit Ziggler at that point, too."

"And that should have been enough!" Seth clenched his hands into fists and ground them into the mattress. "But...I let my mouth run away with me and nearly gave the whole plan away." He glanced at Roman. "McIntire jumping me stopped that from happening." He closed his eyes. "I nearly ruined everything…again." He suddenly yelped when a fist hit his lower leg. He opened his eyes to see Dean on his knees in front of him. He almost flinched at the fury in his brother's blue eyes.

"That's for bringing up past shit!" Dean snarled. "We don't do that any more unless it helps The Plan! Remember?"

Seth silently nodded.

"Then continue to remember it, because I got no problem hitting you until you don't forget it!" Dean tilted his head to one side. "That was all of it?"

Seth shook his head.

Roman had been struck by a lot of changes in Dean, but this was a new one. The old Dean would have told Seth to fuck off and keep his shit to himself if that's what he wanted. The new Dean refused to allow Seth to hide something if he truly felt it was affecting all of them. He just wondered how receptive Dean was going to be when the tables got turned.

"Your interview…at the end," Seth explained. "It was…it cut right to the heart of what we've been working towards. Short. Deliberate." He raised his eyes to Dean's. "But it also felt **so honest**. I guess I just focused on **that** part…too much."

"Yeah, you did," Dean nodded. He stood and smacked Seth lightly on the side of his head. "You're an idiot."

Roman chuckled when Seth glared up at Dean. "But you're **our** idiot," he added.

Seth sighed and nodded. "I screwed up. I'm sorry."

Roman widely grinned after glancing at Dean. "It's okay. We forgive our idiot."

"Fuck you, Reigns," Seth muttered.

Dean walked around the bed and pulled back the sheets on his side. "I understand the desire to punch Ziggler's face. Next to Seth's, his face is the one I probably like punching the most." He paused. "Well, maybe except for Styles' face."

"Or Miz's face," Roman added as he stretched out on his bed. As Seth turned out the light, stripped to his boxers and fumbled his way back to the bed he was sharing with Dean, Roman added, "You know, the best part? Seeing Ziggler back down from Ronda and Malenko."

"Ronda and Malenko, huh?" Dean stared up at the ceiling. "Now **that's** a Mix/Match Challenge team I'd love to see."

The room fell silent for long minutes. Roman finally found a comfortable position, and his breathing evened out.

Seth stared up at the ceiling, still shaken by how he'd almost betrayed his brothers once again. He jerked, feeling Dean's breath against his shoulder then the whispered words in his ear.

"You're not the only one responsible for making this plan work. So, stop taking all that on your shoulders. We'll talk tomorrow and figure a way this doesn't happen again. Now go to sleep. You're keeping me awake."

Seth waited until Dean rolled over and all he could see of his partner was Dean's back. Then he closed his eyes and tried to relax.


End file.
